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PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan wins Turkey’s first presidential election

Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan casts his vote in a presidential election at a polling station in Istanbul on August 10, 2014. Turks were voting in their first direct presidential election Sunday, a watershed event in Turkey's 91-year history, where the president was previously elected by Parliament. Erdogan, who has dominated the country's politics for the past decade, is the strong front-runner to replace the incumbent, Abdullah Gul, for a five-year term. Photo: BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images

ANKARA, Turkey – The head of Turkey’s election commission says Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won the country’s first direct presidential election.

Sadi Guven said in Ankara Sunday night that “it is understood that Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won an absolute majority of the votes.”

He said no ballots would be printed for a runoff, which would have been necessary had no candidate won an absolute majority in the first round.

He said the official vote count would be announced on Monday.

Unofficial results based on Turkish media counts put Erdogan at about 52 percent after more than 95 percent of the ballot boxes were counted. His main rival, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, got just below 40 percent. An absolute majority was needed for victory in the first round.

“I hope that the result is beneficial for democracy in Turkey,” Ihsanoglu said in Istanbul. “I congratulate the prime minister and wish him success.”

If confirmed, the first round victory will ensure Erdogan, currently serving his third term as prime minister, remains at the country’s helm for another five years. It will also allow him to press ahead with his plans to strengthen the powers of the presidency — which until now was largely a ceremonial post.

“The people showed their will at the polls today,” Erdogan said in a brief speech before thousands of supporters in Istanbul Sunday evening, but stopped short of declaring victory.

He said he would head to the capital, Ankara, from where he hoped to address supporters from his party headquarters late Sunday night, once all results were in.

The state-run Anadolu news agency, which has reporters stationed in vote counting centers across the country, declared Erdogan the winner. Turkey’s electoral commission is not expected to publicly announce any official results until Monday.